I actually wish the airlines did the reverse: allow 2 free checked bags but charge for carryons that don’t fit under your seat.
It is the carryons that make boarding stressful, where everyone worries that if they are not at the front of the line the bins will be full by the time they board. Also, they slow boarding as people stand in the aisles looking for an empty overhead bin or else trying to play Tetris to fit their luggage into an almost full bin.
From reading the article, it seems that may get the same tax benefits as the checked baggage fees.
In my experience the newest aircraft are solving the overhead bin space question with larger bins that are nearly 1:1 in terms of passengers vs number of standard carry-ons that they can fit in the bins.
Not saying I expect the anxiety to fully disappear/that there will never be a forced gate checking of a bag again in the future, but I do think this will become much less of a problem than it's been in the past 5-10 years.
Airlines want to optimize for all space being used on the plane, not boarding speed. Free checked bags would mean many empty overhead bins, which is wasted space. When the overhead bins are full, it leaves more space in the cargo area that they can sell to other companies who want to use it.
It's a pretty polarizing subject. I am in the "just check all my crap and be done with it" camp, but many people you'll have to pry their roller bag carry ons from their cold dead hands.
If you have expensive electronics or a controlled substance prescription, you're a fool to let them pry your bag from your hands. United recently forceably checked my carryon bag (because I hadn't paid extra to be in a lower boarding group) on a long international flight (multiple connections) where I would be without my belonging for 40 hours. Pretty rough when you will start going through withdrawals after 8 hours. It was like the end of the scene from Planes, Trains, and Automobiles where the car rental lady (after receiving abuse from Steve Martin's character, which didn't happen in this case) coldly tells him, "you're fucked."
I have a backpack that fits in the overhead. I don't pack more than will fit in there. My personal item is usually my work laptop, not letting that go. I see no reason to check anything.
I live in a tiny city. I get the best of both worlds by gate-checking my bags. I don't have to find carryone space, and my bags are waiting for me at the gate when I get off the plane. I also get to have both a window and an aisle seat on the plane since the plane is so small.
And some folks have to put their bags in an overhead bin further back in the plane than their seat. This really slows things down when getting off the plane, as they have to fight their way back before going forward to leave.
As a previously frequent traveler on both domestic and international flights, pushing your way through to the back while everybody is standing up waiting to deplane doesn't have to slow things down if those passengers waited until enough people have deplaned.
This courtesy doesn't help those passengers who need to catch a tight connection, but if everybody else followed this more polite protocol then deplaning would be less stressful and likely quicker for everybody.
As someone who travels light (even with kids) I appreciate it. I check 1 bag at most and it incentivizes us to pack smartly. The people who want to bring a lot of bags can pay for it as needed.
AA will make you pay extra to "choose your own seat" ($75-$150 extra per ticket for basic economy -> main cabin) and then block off all but 3 rows as "premium seats" so that you can pay $30+/leg/person to sit with your party/travel companion after paying already paying extra. Better get to the airport early and beg the gate attendant or spend an additional $240+ (1 layover, 2 passengers)!
If you book a codeshare they don't even try to let you choose, they simply put in the fine print that the choosing your own seat perk "may not apply to partner airlines".
It's not only that - the bag prices mess with price comparison web sites so much, that it's impossible to find the best deal. Win-Win for the airlines.
But they don’t appear on price comparison sites. So if you’re shopping around and you see a Delta flight for $300 and a Spirit flight for $200 you have no idea which is actually cheaper. Every time I’ve flown Spirit the baggage price has been variable (based on miles flown maybe? No idea) so it’s not like comparison sites could even add it if they wanted to.
Right, but if you’re not a frequent flier and are trying to just plan a trip, the amount of extra work it takes to determine the actual round trip price (incl. baggage fees) for several different airline is prohibitive.
Many people just pick the cheapest price on cheap tickets or something (which is usually spirit. They famously charge so much for baggage that they end up being more expensive than other airlines)
I feel like there's always a tradeoff. In the past year I've flown both Frontier and United. Frontier makes you pay for your bags (except for a single personal item), while United gives you a free carry-on and checked bag.
It would seem as though Frontier is milking you until you look at the ticket price. I calculated that if I took that United flight with Frontier instead and paid for 1 carry on + 1 checked bag (what United offered for free), the flight would still be cheaper than the United flight.
United basic economy does not give you a free carry on or checked bag, and United economy does not give you a free checked bag. And it has been that way for 10+ years.
It’s true investing in the airline industry has been a good way to lose money for a long time.
But citing early post pandemic years to make that point feels misleading.
It’s like saying someone drives badly and instead of pointing to their speeding tickets, it’s like pointing out their car is in the shop with body damage… from a falling tree branch.
All travel was shut down for a while and when it opened up business travel was nonexistent. It’s still down and expected to never return to prepandemic. It’s amazing they made any profit in 2023.
Yes, airlines are not highly profitable but pandemic years are a terrible example due to being a weird black swan event.
Related: On my last flight there were so many carry-on bags they ran out of room. They forced the people boarding last to check their carry-on bags. What some people consider a "carry-on" is debatable. The enforcement of carry-on sizing limits seems spotty at best.
This happened on the last 4-5 flights for me, at least. If flying with family, can be a nice "optimization" to pack into carry-ons and check them all in for free, when offered (sometimes when checking into the flight, sometimes at the gate). Interestingly, I had one such full flight where the overhead bins clearly ended up with a ton of free space so perhaps others went with the same strategy.
> On my last flight there were so many carry-on bags they ran out of room.
Not just your last flight, it is now intentional and it happens on just about every flight. They even stopped pretending and now they announce that if you're in the last few boarding groups the space will run out before you get there.
It's just another money grab to get people to pay for earlier boarding to have a chance to keep their stuff.
Back 20-30 years ago this never happened, there was always room for carryons.
What I like about airlines charging separately for checked bags is that it means people like myself who don't check bags at all[1] don't have to pay for something we aren't using.
[1] I ship my luggage ahead to my destination through a parcel carrier service. It's a habit I started a long time ago to ensure that my luggage will get to where I'm going in good condition. It also lets me skip one of the things that makes flying unpleasant. Additionally, post-9/11, it brings the benefit of not having to put up with the TSA pawing through it.
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It is the carryons that make boarding stressful, where everyone worries that if they are not at the front of the line the bins will be full by the time they board. Also, they slow boarding as people stand in the aisles looking for an empty overhead bin or else trying to play Tetris to fit their luggage into an almost full bin.
From reading the article, it seems that may get the same tax benefits as the checked baggage fees.
https://www.boeing.com/commercial/737max/space-bins
Pretty sure Airbus has some similar thing.
Not saying I expect the anxiety to fully disappear/that there will never be a forced gate checking of a bag again in the future, but I do think this will become much less of a problem than it's been in the past 5-10 years.
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This courtesy doesn't help those passengers who need to catch a tight connection, but if everybody else followed this more polite protocol then deplaning would be less stressful and likely quicker for everybody.
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As someone who travels light (even with kids) I appreciate it. I check 1 bag at most and it incentivizes us to pack smartly. The people who want to bring a lot of bags can pay for it as needed.
"DISCERNING, JUDICIOUS discriminating buyers"
[1] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/discriminating
On the other hand, fees for things like seat assignment (regular seats, not just the exit rows and such) are just an annoying cash grab.
If you book a codeshare they don't even try to let you choose, they simply put in the fine print that the choosing your own seat perk "may not apply to partner airlines".
I hate it.
Many people just pick the cheapest price on cheap tickets or something (which is usually spirit. They famously charge so much for baggage that they end up being more expensive than other airlines)
I don’t understand these comments about how it’s confusing. It’s all quite clear.
It would seem as though Frontier is milking you until you look at the ticket price. I calculated that if I took that United flight with Frontier instead and paid for 1 carry on + 1 checked bag (what United offered for free), the flight would still be cheaper than the United flight.
https://www.united.com/en/us/fly/travel/inflight/basic-econo...
>Carry-on bags are not included unless you're flying to Canada, South America, across the Atlantic or on an international flight across the Pacific.
https://www.iata.org/en/pressroom/2023-releases/2023-12-06-0...
It’s true investing in the airline industry has been a good way to lose money for a long time.
But citing early post pandemic years to make that point feels misleading.
It’s like saying someone drives badly and instead of pointing to their speeding tickets, it’s like pointing out their car is in the shop with body damage… from a falling tree branch.
All travel was shut down for a while and when it opened up business travel was nonexistent. It’s still down and expected to never return to prepandemic. It’s amazing they made any profit in 2023.
Yes, airlines are not highly profitable but pandemic years are a terrible example due to being a weird black swan event.
This is like saying walmart isn't highly profitable...you make up for it in volume.
For free, I hope?
Sometimes the bags are unloaded at the gate, sometimes you have to go to baggage claim.
Not just your last flight, it is now intentional and it happens on just about every flight. They even stopped pretending and now they announce that if you're in the last few boarding groups the space will run out before you get there.
It's just another money grab to get people to pay for earlier boarding to have a chance to keep their stuff.
Back 20-30 years ago this never happened, there was always room for carryons.
[1] I ship my luggage ahead to my destination through a parcel carrier service. It's a habit I started a long time ago to ensure that my luggage will get to where I'm going in good condition. It also lets me skip one of the things that makes flying unpleasant. Additionally, post-9/11, it brings the benefit of not having to put up with the TSA pawing through it.